The launching of the third in the series of new factory trawlers being built for the Russian Fishery Company was watched by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the new vessel was floated off at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg.
Mekanik Sizov is one of the series of ten such vessels being built for RFC under the government investment quotas initiative, and is due to be commissioned in 2022.
“Russia’s fisheries infrastructure is now receiving a lot of attention as an integral part of our food security,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut, the new trawler’s godmother, commenting that 79 agreements have already been signed under the investment quotas initiative.
“The Ministry of Agriculture has a strong interested in such projects. These will allow us to deliver high-quality finished products and, of course, increase the value of exports.”
The RFC vessels will operate under challenging conditions, while the high-tech production systems on board are expected to enable the production of high-value products from pollock and herring catches, including the production of surimi.
“With the commissioning of new trawlers, the Russian fishing industry will have at its disposal a fundamentally new level of efficiency, environmental friendliness, and safety,” said RFC general director Viktor Litvinenko
“The factories of these vessels ate twice as productive as those on our trawlers today, and at the same time, the impact of these trawlers on the environment is half as much. Modern energy efficient technologies and a new generation engine allow us to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Mekanik Sizov is named after fishing industry veteran Vladimir Abramovich Sizov (1936-2013), who spent more than 30 years to working on whalers and trawlers. Between 1962 and 1992 he worked his way up from a junior greaser to chief engineer, and received numerous state awards during a long career.
